By Pat Dargan During the Second World War the Irish government adopted a policy of neutrality, legislated for through the Emergency Powers Act 1939, which gave rise to the term ‘the Emergency’ to describe the period of the war as it affected Ireland. The Irish Army at the time was grossly under strength, and a … Read more
By Tarlach de Blácam Aodh de Blácam (Harold Saunders Blackham), journalist, essayist, poet and novelist, was born in London to a Newry-born apothecary, William George Blackham, and his English wife, Elizabeth Evison Saunders. According to Aodh’s uncle, Major-General Robert James Blackham, he ‘was a member of a family which claims descent from Sir Charles Blackham, … Read more
By Brian Trench In early 1925 a public analysis laboratory opened in Dawson Street, Dublin, in the premises to which the New Ireland Assurance Company had recently moved. The team of six scientists were all women, led by Phyllis Ryan, the first woman to become a public analyst in Ireland. She had been providing chemical … Read more
By Mark Stocker A long-overlooked aspect of the 1928 Irish Free State coinage was how the new, precarious, state could benefit from seigniorage. This denotes the profit made by a government issuing currency through the difference between its face value and lower production costs. Only higher-value silver coins (half-crown, florin and shilling) mattered here. W.T. … Read more
By Billy Shortall Although invited, the Irish Free State refused to participate in the British Empire Exhibition, which took place between April and October 1924. It also declined to participate when the exhibition was extended for a second season in 1925. Why not? The event took place on a 220-acre site at Wembley, London. It … Read more